Telephone-cabinet.



'No. 686,423. v Patented Now-12,1901.

E. w. SMITH. I TELEPHONE CABINET.

(Application fllqd Mar. 21, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

; 1mm! 5 I No. 686,423. Patented Nov. I2, I90]. I .E. w. SMITH.TELEPHONE CABINET.

(Application filed. Mar. 21, 1901.)

'2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No lllo del.)

m: Norms PETERS so. PHOYO LII'HG. mum-romp L.

* UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN W. SMITH, OF ST. CATHARINES, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF TWO- THIRDS TOEDWIN POOLE AND EDWARD GANDER, OF ST. OATHA-' RINES, CANADA.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 686,423, dated November12, 1901.

' Application filed March 21, 1901. Serial No. 52,264. (No model.)

To allwhom: it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN W. SMITH, a subject of the King of England,residing at St. Catharines, in the Province of Ontario and Dominion ofCanada, have invented a new and useful Improvement inTelephone-Gabinets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates toa hood or cabinet adapted'to be applied to atelephone-transmitter and constructed to inclose the head or upperportion of the speakers person, so that a conversation can be carried'onprivately and without noise or disturbance, as in the telephone cabinetsor compartments now in common use.

The object of my invention is the provision of a compact and practicallysound-proof inclosure which occupies less space and is less expensivethan the ordinary telephone-cabinet and which can be readily applied toan.

ordinary telephone-transmitter.

In the accompanying drawings, consisting of two sheets, Figure 1 is aside elevation of a telephone provided with my improved hood. Fig. 2 isa top plan view thereof, showing the doors of the hood'open. Fig. 3 is adetached rear View of the hood. Fig. 4 is a face view of the bracketapplied to the transmitter, Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section ofthe hood applied to the transmitter. Fig. 6 is a transverse verticalsection in line 6 6, Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectionin line 7 7, Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section in line 8 8, Fig. 7. I

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

Ais the transmitter-case of a telephone, and it its front plate. B isthe receiver; B, the usual vertically-swingin g forked switch-leverwhich ordinarily supports the receiver.

0 is my improved hood or cabinet, which is preferably rcmovably attachedto the transmitter-case and made of the proper size to freely receivethe head andneck of a person. The hood is closed on all sides and may beof any suitable form; but its rear wall 0 is preferably straight, andits side walls 0 converge toward its rear wall, while its front wall isformed by'a pair of curved horizontally-swinging doors O hinged at d tothe rear ends of I the side walls 0 as most clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2,and 7. The hood may be constructed 7 of any suitable material, as glass,wood, paper-board, celluloid, or aluminium, and its walls are preferablyhollow or double to form an intermediate non-conducting air-space. Theside walls of the hood may be provided with glass panels, so that theoccupant can look through the same for making memoranda on the usualdesk adjacent to the telephone.

E is a bracket-plate detachably secured to the front plate a of thetransmitter-caseand provided at its side edges with hooks or clasps e,which embrace the projecting edge of the plate a, as shown in Figs. 1and '7. The shanks of these hooks are provided with longitudinal slotse, through which the fastening-screws of the hooks pass, therebypermitting the hooks to be adjusted to the thickness of the front platea.

The rear side of the bracket-plate E may be covered with felt or similarmaterial to prevent marring of the transmitter-case. This plate isprovided on its front side with a vertical bar f, having undercutvertical edges f, which slide in vertical guides or ways f arranged onthe rear wall of the telephone-hood C, as seen in Figs. 1, 3, 5, and 7,thus attaching the hood to the transmitter and at the same time allowingit to slide vertically to accommodate persons of different statures. Thehood is preferably counterbalanced by a spring-drum G or by a weight,the drum being connected with the top of the hood by a cord g, woundupon the drum, as shown in Fig. 1. v

h is an opening formed in the rear wall of the hood 0 and registeringwith a tube or opening h in the bracket-plate E, which tube coincideswith the diaphragm of the transmitter. The opening h is elongatedvertically, so as to register with the tube h in all positions of thehood. p As shown in Figs. 2 and 7, the hinged doors O are provided attheir upper-and lower ends 5 and the adjacent portions of the chest andback of the speaker when the doors C are closed, as shown in Figs. 5 and7. This opening is made just large enough to closely fit the chest andback of the person, so as to form as tight a closure as practicable.

The doors of the hood may be provided with spring-hinges, as shown,which tend to keep them closed, and when such hinges are employed thedoors are preferably provided with suitable catches for holding themopen, if desired. The catches shown in the drawings consist ofhorizontally-swinging levers 7a, pivoted to the top of the doors neartheir hinges and each provided at its front end with a hook or tooth k,which interlocks with a vertical pin 76*, projecting upwardly from theadjacent corner of the hood 0, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 6. Thecatch-levers k are yieldingly held in engagement with the pins kbysprings Upon swinging the doors into the open position (shown in Fig.2) the inclined faces of the catches it ride over the pins 70 andautomatically interlock therewith. The lugs 70, which carry the pins arearranged to serve as stops for limiting the opening movement of thedoors. To release the doors, the hooked ends of the catches 7c arepulled outwardly to disengage them from the pins 70 As shown in thedrawings, the upper rear portion of the hood is preferably curveddownwardly and rearwardly and the rear portion of its bottom is curvedto conform to the speakers chest.

The receiver B extends through one of the side walls of the hood 0 andis preferably made adjustable vertically, so that it can be raised orlowered to suit the speaker. For this purpose the receiver is mounted ina vertical slide or carrier L, guided between the inner and outer wallsof the adjacent side panel of the hood, as shown in Fig. 7. This slideis divided transversely into upper and lower sections, which areprovided in their meeting edges with a circular opening m just largeenough to receive the body of the receiver and with hooks and eyes m orother suitable means for detachably connecting the sections together.The panel in which the slide L is guided is provided with openings 'n ofsufficient size to admit the large bell-shaped head of the receiver B.In order to place the receiverin the slide, the sections of the latterare disconnected and separated sufi'iciently to allow the head of thereceiver to pass between them, after which the sec tions are againbrought together and recoupled. The slide is held in position by itsfrictional contact with its guides.

As the receiver is supported by the hoodC when my improved hood is used,it is necessary to normally hold the forked switch-lever B in itsdepressed position by means independent of the receiver. I prefer toemploy for this purpose a cord 0, attached to the switch-lever andprovided at its lower end with a tassel or other enlargement 0, whichengages under a forked holder 0 secured to the battery-case P of thetelephone or other support.

A person desiring to use a telephone equipped with my improved hoodopens the doors C enters the hood, and allows the doors to close againunder the action of their spring-hinges, the hood inclosing only thehead and neck of the speaker. He then seizes the receiver and adjusts itto his ear, if necessary, releases the cord 0 from its holder 0 to allowthe switch-lever B to ascend, and then calls the central office. As thehood is closed on all sides and practically soundproof, the speaker isnot disturbed by noise outside of the hood and his conversation cannotbe heard by others.

The hood being comparatively small occupies little space and can be usedin locations where an ordinary telephone-cabinet would be impracticable,while its cost is much less than that of the ordinary cabinet. The hoodcan, moreover, be readily applied to ordinary telephones Withoutrequiring any change in the construction or arrangement of theinstruments, and if it should be desired to remove the hood at any timethis can be quickly done by simply loosening the fastening-screws of theattaching-hooks e and slipping the hood vertically ofi the face plate aof the transmitter.

In the drawings the catches 7c are shown as applied to the top of thehood; but they could obviously be otherwise arranged.

I claim as my invention- 1. A cabinet adapted to be applied to atelephone-transmitter, and consisting of a closed hood having a door foradmitting the head of the speaker, and provided in its bottom with aneck-aperture and in its rear wall with an opening arranged to registerwith the diaphragm of the transmitter, substantially as set forth.

2. A cabinet adapted to be applied to a telephone-transmitter andconsisting of a closed hood provided at its front end withhorizontallyswinging doors, in its rear wall with an opening whichregisters with the transmitterdiaphragm, and in its bottom with aneck-ap erture, substantially as set forth.

3. A cabinet adapted to be applied to a telephone-transmitter andconsisting of a closed hood provided at its front end withhorizontally-swinging doors, in its rear wall with an opening whichregisters with a transmitterdiaphragm and in its bottom with aneck-aperture, springs arranged to close said doors, and catches forholding the doors open, substantially as set forth.

4. A hood or cabinet adapted to be applied to a telephone-transmitterand provided in its rear wall with an opening which registers with thetransmitter-diaphragm, in its bottom with a neck-aperture and at itsfront end with curved doors hinged to swing horizontally and eachprovided at its upper and lower ends with horizontal, quadrantal plateswhich form part of the top and bottom of the hood, substantially as setforth.

5. The combination with a bracket having means for attaching it to atelephone-transmitter and provided on its front side with a verticalguide-bar, ot' a vertically-adjustable telephone-hood provided atitsrear end with Vertical Ways which engage with said guidebar, andhaving a neck-opening and a door for admitting the head of the speaker,substantially as set forth.

6. The combination with a bracket having means for attaching it to atelephone-transmitter, of a cabinet or hood engaging at its rear endWith said bracket and capable of slidin g vertically thereon, and havinga neck-aperture and a door vfor admitting the head of the speaker,substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with a telephone-transmitter, of a vertically-adjustable hood guided at its rear end on the transmitter and provided Witha neck-aperture and a door for admitting the speakers head, and acounterbalance connected with the hood, substantially as set forth.

8. A closed telephone-hood having a door for admitting the speakershead, a neck-opening arranged in the bottom of the hood, andavertically-adjustable carrier for a telephone for admitting thespeakers head, a neck-opening arranged in the bottom of the hood, avertically-movable slide guided on the side of the hood and composed ofsections provided in their meeting edges with an opening adapted toreceive the body of a telephone-receiver, the hood being providedopposite the slideopening with an aperture for admitting the enlargedhead of the receiver, and means for separably conneetin g saidslide-sections, substantially as set forth.

. Witness my hand this 11th day of March, 1901.

EDWIN W. SMITH. Witnesses:

J. N. WILSON, B. ROBERTSON.

